To Guest- calm down and just breathe. You sound like Joy. And eventually- PATIENCE!

"I saw that!"

"Mom!"

"I saw that!" Joy bounced up to her. "You love Alvie, you love Alvie!" She chanted, dancing around her.

"Mom!" Crystal demanded, heat rising in her cheeks. She stopped her mother by holding her hand out. "Look what he got me." Joy breathed in sharply as she studied the bracelet. "Mom, breathe."

Joy just squealed excitedly, hugging Crystal fiercely and dancing about, making Crystal stumble around.

"He likes you!"

"Mom!"

"What is going on?" The dancing stopped. Crystal felt dizzy but she managed to meet William's gaze easily, standing her ground and bracing her shoulders.

"Alvie got me a present and Mom's doing her hyperactive reaction thing again." Crystal held her hand out to show him the bracelet. His eyes narrowed.

"Take it off."

"No."

"Now."

"It was a present from her friend. She doesn't have to take it off if she doesn't want to." William glared at Joy. Crystal glared at William. "Crystal, invite Alvie round for a sleepover weekend. I want to talk to him." Joy's smile had returned, mischievous and sly.

"Oh gods…"

"Go!" Joy shooed her away before turning to face her husband. He was glowering at her murderously. "She's allowed friends, William."

"Not that one."

"Why not?"

"There's something wrong with him?"

"Wrong with him? What? Is it because he's not like all the other boys? The ones that shout, swear, smoke, drink and use girls for what they can get? He's sweet, he cares, he's clever and he makes her happy. What's wrong with that?"

William grabbed her upper arm, shoving his face in hers.

"Do not," He spat, "defy me. That boy isn't right in the head- there's something wrong with him and his family. I intend to get to the bottom of it."

"Alvie and his family are the nicest bunch of people I've ever met." Joy tried to snatch her arm away, but his grip, digging his fingers in.

"I'm warning you, Joy."

"Mom, this weekend?" William let her go. Joy glowered at him before turning to her daughter who appeared in the doorway, the phone to her ear

Plastering on her smile, Joy nodded. Crystal returned the smile. "Thanks, Mom!" Crystal bounced away again.

"I will find out." William warned.

"Go on then."

"How about now?"

"No!" Crystal laughed. Alvie pulled a face. "Look, you can ask every five seconds if you want to, but it won't speed time up. You're stuck with that thing for another three weeks." She nodded at his cast. Alvie didn't like it. He had a serious itch on his shin and he couldn't get it. "OK, what about this one?"

"No. Frilly."

"Frilly? That's your excuse?" He shrugged meekly. Crystal flipped a couple of pages. "OK, what about that one?"

"Lace."

"Ugh…"

"Try something that's not girly, frilly, lacy or pink." She glowered at him. "What?"

"This is my mom's birthday present, remember?"

"Does she like that stuff?"

"I hope so. I want to get her something nice that'll last her."

"Get her a puppy."

"With Pebbles?" Crystal's black cat meowed from where he was curled on her pillow. Crystal whistled and the cat opened his eyes. "Come here, Pebbles." The cat stood, stretched and padded over, climbing over Alvie's lap to settle in Crystal's.

"Get her a kitten."

"What if it's one she doesn't like though? And what if she doesn't want one?"

"Paint something for her."

"I can't paint."

"My aunt can."

"What? Lou?" Alvie nodded. Crystal tried to get her head around the fact that Alvie's violent and tempered aunt could ever do something as nice as painting. "Are you sure?" Alvie nodded again, a smile teasing the corners of his lips. "That's not very Lou-ish."

"You get used to it after a while. It's like her… her calming thing."

"Like you with reading."

"Yeah, like that." He agreed. "She paints and draws all the time." He paused. "When's your mom's birthday?"

"Two weeks."

"I could ask to borrow some of Lou's sketch books and bring them into school to show you."

"Now that's a plan." Crystal smiled. "Would she mind painting something for mom though?"

"She might charge you."

"How much?" Alvie shrugged.

"Lou's difficult." He replied. Crystal closed the catalogue and chucked it on the floor. Pebbles protested as she shifted closer to Alvie, jumping off her lap and miserably pacing a circle on her bed before Crystal sat still. Pebbles quickly settled on her lap again, purring happily as Crystal scratched behind his ears.

"Stupid cat." She muttered, smiling. Pebbles was too busy purring to react.

A knock on the door interrupted them. "Password!" Crystal ordered.

"Crystal, it's me."

"Password." Crystal insisted.

"I'm your mother!"

"Password."

"Ugh, fine." Joy paused. "William is a fatheaded pig and smells like poopy cat litter on a summer's day." She said quietly.

"Enter." Crystal smiled.

"That's a long password."

"It was that or William's a two-faced bastard."

"Language!" Joy scolded as she walked in, the door closing behind her. Crystal gave an angelic smile as Pebbles opened his eyes, seeing another candidate to pet him. He jumped down and circled around Joy's legs, purring happily.

Joy knelt to pet the stupid cat, looking up at the two friends sat on Crystal's bed. "So, Alvie, I've been meaning to talk to you?" Alvie's eyes gained a nervous glimmer. "Don't worry, you're not in trouble." Joy assured, laughing softly. Alvie still looked nervous, but he had relaxed a fraction, which was a good thing. "This bracelet you got for my annoying daughter."

"I'm not annoying."

"You are, you can be and you have been." Joy replied simply. "Anyway… I want one!" Joy beamed. "Well, not an exact copy of it, obviously. I prefer pale blues and pretty little charms, like flowers and hearts and so on and so forth." Crystal glanced at Alvie- birthday present material right there. Alvie didn't seem to register that, or, if he did, he didn't show it. "But," Joy poked Alvie's good leg, "do not spend all your money on my daughter. She's a madam as it is."

"I don't mind." Alvie told her.

"I do. You're lovely enough, Alvie, you don't need to buy pressies for Crystal to prove that."

"But… I thought that's what friends did…" Alvie trailed off, looking uncertain. "Buy presents for each other."

"Well, they can, but you don't need to." Crystal smiled at Alvie. "Not that I'm complaining." She shook her hand and made the charms jingle. Alvie smiled weakly. "No-one in my old school was as nice as you. Looking back on it all, they were all little sh-" Crystal caught herself, looking warily at her mother. "Bums." She settled with. She shrugged it off. "I didn't like that school anyway."

"Explains why you got kicked out."

"You got kicked out?" Joy gasped, mocking surprise.

"You never told him?! Shame on you, Crystal!" Crystal smiled sweetly.

"What'd you do?" Alvie asked.

"Well…" Crystal's smile changed, glowing with self-pride. "I may or may not have accidently stuck up posters of all the bullies and the teachers that I didn't like with captions of what I thought of them. I was, um, disgracing students and members of staff loyal to the school." Crystal scoffed. "They did that themselves. I was just telling them the truth, like they always told me to."

"You're not going to do that again, are you?"

"No, I like this school." She paused. "More than the last one anyway."

"Well, not for much longer then." Joy shook her head at her daughter. "Honestly, Crystal, where did you get it from?"

"Get what?"

"This… rebellious streak?"

"I don't know, Mom." Crystal replied honestly. Joy sighed.

"You remind me of your dad."

"My dad?" Crystal's smile faltered into curiosity. "What was he like, Mom?" Joy smiled sadly, her eyes clouding over as she recalled fond times.

"He was so kind, but had a wicked sense of humour. Very troublesome too."

"Why did he leave?" Joy's smile faded slightly.

"I don't know." She replied miserably. Crystal glanced at Alvie, wondering if he would have a psychic moment. He was studying Joy carefully, like he would study something in a museum.

"Him or William?"

"Him." Joy answered without hesitation.

"You ever tried to find him again?"

"The stupid idiot didn't have a cell phone or a laptop or computer for emailing. He phoned me from the landline every night at six and we met up every Saturday to go to the cinema or bowling or something and then we'd go and get lunch."

"Why William?" Joy sighed.

"Another time, maybe." Pebbles butted his head against Joy's stomach and meowed. "Hungry, kitty?" Joy cooed. "Come on then." Pebbles jumped down as Joy got to her feet. She brushed cat hair from her trousers before walking out. "I'll do dinner in an hour." She called over her shoulder.

"Anything?" Crystal asked once her mother was out of earshot.

"Fuzzy." Alvie responded. He looked at her. "It's like she buried the memories 'cos they hurt or something."

"I think Mom loved my dad."

"She still does."

"Where is he?" Alvie shook his head.

"I didn't get much."

"Are you a mind-reader now?"

"I'm getting the hang of it." He replied, smiling slightly. "Mom and Dad have a friend- Rachel. She's the Oracle." Crystal looked at him quizzically, so he quickly explained. "She does all the prophecies for demigod quests and whatnot, but she has some psychic powers, I guess."

"So, you're learning to control all this?" He shrugged. "What are the lottery numbers?" He smiled.

"Oh, if only I knew."